


The Sins of The Father

by FayetheBrilliant



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Baby Harry, F/F, F/M, Godfather Sirius Black, Good Draco Malfoy, Good Regulus Black, M/M, Marauders, Multi, Peter Pettigrew Sucks, Sirius Black Free from Azkaban, Spy Draco Malfoy, Unbreakable Vow (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-21 03:39:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11349105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayetheBrilliant/pseuds/FayetheBrilliant
Summary: Lyra Cassiopeia Black is the daughter of Regulus Black and Marlene McKinnon. When Lyra is born on February 14, 1980, Marlene knows she needs to protect her daughter at all costs, but how can she do that when she's already in hiding with her family and Voldemort's followers are slowly closing in on them? Desperately, Marlene goes to her high school best friend, Lily Potter for help and asks Lily to take care of her daughter as if she were her own. Lily agrees and takes Lyra into hiding with her family. Only days later, Marlene's body is found.For about a year and a half, the Potters and Lyra remain safe. Until the fateful night that Voldemort comes for them. James and Lily are murdered while both Lyra and Harry survive. Sirius raises Lyra, as is his duty as her godfather, and Harry is sent to the Dursleys despite Remus', who is his godfather, willingness to raise Harry.Lyra has no idea who she is. Not even what her full name is. Her life is a mystery. The sorting hat gives her a chance of discovering who she is and her past when it whispers promises that Slytherin will lead her to the truth, but Gryffindor will give her a home.With choices like that, how does one even begin to choose?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first fanfic on this website. I'm also on Wattpad, same username if you wanna look for me. I'm just kind of testing this platform.  
> I hope everyone enjoys this fic. Let me kniw your thoughts and opinions.

A young woman with curly, blonde hair walked briskly down the streets of Godric's Hollow at night while holding a bundle of grey cloth in her arms. The streets were dimly lit and barren of people. The sounds of crickets filled the warm summer air. The woman slowed as she approached a white house that stood a bit apart from the others. Shifting the bundle to one arm, she opened the gate surrounding the house from the others. 

The woman paused, taking a deep breath and sweeping her hair out of her face, revealing violet eyes, before striding up to the front door of the house and knocking swiftly. 

Anxiety filled the woman as she waited impatiently for the door to open, so much so that when a young redheaded, pregnant woman finally opened the door, the blonde jumped back a bit. 

"Marlene?" the redheaded woman asked with surprised, "Bloody hell! You're alive!"

The blonde woman, Marlene, smiled briefly before replying, "Hello, Lily. I'm sorry I allowed you to think I was dead. It's just... life got a bit complicated."

Marlene looked down at the bundle of grey cloth in her hands, and pulled it back to reveal a baby girl sleeping peacefully. Lily gasped, "When... You best come in. I'll get James."

Lily opened the door and let Marlene in before closing the door tightly behind her and taking out her wand, muttering several enchantments before waddling off to find James. Feeling a bit out of place in the home of her best friend that she hadn't seen in over a year, Marlene walked into the living room, taking a seat in a plush recliner and focused her attention on the baby in her arms.

The girl had a fair skin tone and ebony coloured hair that was just beginning to grow on her head. Marlene leaned down to kiss her forehead, waking the baby up. The baby tiredly rubbed her eyes before opening them, revealing violet irises. A smile appeared on Marlene's face for a moment, before she seemed to think of something, causing the smile to completely disappear and her to look away from the baby in her arms. 

Lily entered the room, followed by a tall man with messy, black hair. They both sat on the sofa across from Marlene, looking from her to the child in her arms and back a few times, exchanging a glance with each other and then turning their attention back to Marlene. 

"It's great to see that you're alive, Lily was horribly worried about you, but why the sudden appearance? And whose child is that?" the man asked Marlene.

Marlene sighed, "I'm sorry if I worried either of you, James. I came here to ask a favor of you both and if you agree, to explain what has happened and why I need to ask this favor."

"What do you need?" Lily asked immediately, her green eyes showing her determination to help. 

Marlene stared straight into Lily's eyes, "I need you to take my daughter."

Lily looked at James, who was staring at Marlene with growing concern, "Why?"

With a shake of her head, Marlene replied, "I'm sorry, I can't explain unless you agree to take her. It's too dangerous for everyone otherwise."

"If you're sure..." Lily started, still looking at James, "then we'll take her of course. Right, James?"

James nodded, "Of course. We know you wouldn't ask unless you had to."

"Her name is Lyra Cassiopeia Black," Marlene whispered as she stood up and offered them her daughter, who Lily took instantly.

James jumped slightly, "You and...Sirius?"

The man looked completely bewildered at the idea. Luckily for him, Marlene shook her head, "No, his brother Regulus. We had just started seeing each other about a year ago and we got a bit caught up in the moment, which resulted in Lyra. Regulus didn't even know I was pregnant before he died. I had been planning on telling him the night that I found out about his death. His house elf, Kreacher, told me."

"Regulus was a Death Eater though, Marls. Why would you get involved with him?" questioned Lily with a quiet rage. 

"He was trying to change. Regulus realized the lengths that You-Know-Who would go to and realized that what he was doing was wrong. He was even trying to work on a way to stop him. That's how he died. Trying to stop him," Marlene replied defensively. 

Both James and Lily were astounded to hear this, as they were recalling everything Sirius had ever said about his younger brother. 

"He did something though, didn't he? He at least inconvenienced You-Know-Who in some way, right? That's why you're here," Lily guessed.

Marlene closed her eyes and nodded, leaning back against the chair in despair, "Yes, he did. I don't know exactly what he did, but Kreacher told me that I would need to hide. That the Death Eaters would realize he had turned and what he had done and that they would look for me to try to figure out what he did, or how he did it, or whatever they wanted to know and then I would be killed. Some of the other Death Eaters knew we were dating so it's only a matter of time before they come for me. I was able to conceal my pregnancy though, so no one knows about Lyra. So, that's why I need you two to take care of her. Everyone else I know I can trust is dead or already in hiding. I need you two to raise her as your own. Don't tell her about me until You-Know-Who is gone or until she's old enough to keep the secret. I know it's a lot to ask of you both, but I can't take care of her. I have to try to finish what Regulus was doing and defeat Him. If I'm extremely lucky, I might even be able to live through this and get to know her one day."

Marlene quickly wiped the tears flowing from her eyes away and James and Lily looked at each other and Lyra, then Lily quickly passed Lyra off to James, allowing her to get up and attempt to hug her best friend, "You're so strong, Marls. I just wish we could help more."

"You're doing more than I have any right to ask by taking care of Lyra. Odds are I'm going to die and you'll have to take care of her for the rest of her life," Marlene whispered.

The three adults remained silent for a moment. The spell was broken when Lyra started babbling as she gazed in Marlene's direction. 

"I have to leave. I can't stand to do this to her, but I have to. I'd never be able to live with myself if I didn't do everything in my power to protect her," Marlene said bitterly, "I just need to say goodbye first."

James handed Lyra to Marlene, allowing her to kiss her daughter goodbye, then handed Lyra back to James. 

"Is there anything else we should know about her? Or anything you want us to tell her when she's older?" Lily asked as Marlene headed for the door.

Marlene paused, looking back at her daughter, then at Lily, "Her birthday is valentine's day. Tell her that her mother loved her and that her father was a good man in the end."

And with that, Marlene left the Potters and her daughter. Only days later, her body was found by Aurors.


	2. Chapter 2

With the news of Marlene's death and Lily's progressing pregnancy, the Potters decided to go into hiding, taking Lyra with them. Lily and James treated Lyra like their own daughter, even calling themselves her Mum and Dad and telling her that she was going to have a baby brother soon. 

Starting the moment of Harry's birth, people started coming by and were surprised to meet Lyra as well. The Potters told no one of Lyra's parentage, though a few guessed Marlene was her mother due to the uniqueness of Lyra's violet eyes, but Lily and James admitted to nothing and told everyone who met Lyra to simply call her their daughter. 

Eventually, Lily and James asked Sirius to become Lyra's godfather and after much debate, Lily convinced James that they should then ask Remus to become Harry's godfather, claiming that it was only fair since Sirius was already Lyra's. Remus gladly accepted the responsibility, happy to have Harry as a Godson. Both Sirius and Remus came over often to visit with Lyra and Harry.

Months passed quickly, and Harry and Lyra grew just as quick much to their parent's dismay. By eight months old, Lyra had learned to walk. By six months, Harry was crawling in attempt to keep up with Lyra, who he clearly adored. The two children played together often and it was rare that they fought. Lyra adapted to the role of big sister quickly and encouraged Harry to learn how to do whatever she learned. By Harry's first birthday, he was walking as well. The two adults loved both children equally, and kept baby books for them both, celebrating each milestone they accomplished. The Potters and Lyra were as happy as they could be with the war surrounding them.

However, the family's happiness was doomed to come to an end on 31 October, 1981 when Voldemort came for Harry. 

On the night of the 31st, James and Lily were sitting in their living room playing with their children. James was emitting puffs of colourful smoke and bubbles from his wand to amuse the two children and Lily was sitting beside him with the two kids on her lap. Harry was sleepily attempting to catch the smoke and bubbles in his hands while Lyra was staring at James' wand, curious how the wand was creating the colours. The family was immediately startled when they heard the gate blasted open outside.

"Lily quick, take Lyra and Harry and run!" James yelled quickly pushing them out of the room.

Lily carried the children up the steps as quickly as possible, knowing that there was no escape. As she turned the corner to Harry's room, she heard the sound of the front door being blasted open. There was a flash of green light that carried throughout the house and Lily choked back a sob as she slammed the door to Harry's room shut and quickly pushed his dresser in front of the door, attempting to prevent Voldemort from entering, but knowing that the only thing it might do was slow him down. 

"Lyra, come here." Lily whispered, crouching down and grabbing Harry's hand to place it in Lyra's, "I need you to take Harry and hide. Can you do that?"

Lyra nodded, her wide, violet eyes showing fear, "Love you, Mommy."

Tears fell from Lily's eyes, "I love you two, sweetheart. I love the both of you. Daddy loved the both of you too. Never forget that."

Harry whimpered in fear and Lily wiped his tears quickly, pushing both the children into the closet and closing the doors, holding a finger to her lips.

The doors to the closet shut just as the bedroom door exploded into a million pieces, revealing a man with snake like features and red eyes. 

"Please," Lily pleaded, "Please, take me instead. Spare Harry and take me."

"Step aside and show me the boy," the man commanded.

Lily looked at him defiantly, her emerald eyes glaring fiercely, "Never."

There was a quiet noise that came from the closet, causing Voldemort to turn towards it. Lily jumped in front of the door and there was a flash of green light, hitting her directly in the chest. The life was gone from her eyes before she hit the floor. 

Voldemort returned his attention to the closet, pushing the doors open to reveal the two children. For the briefest moment, he paused, unsure of why there was a second child, but then said, "Step aside, girl."

"No!" Lyra shouted, clinging on more tightly to Harry, "Go away!"

Voldemort raised his wand, preparing to kill both children, "Avada Kedavra."

The spell rebounded off both of the children, hitting Harry's forehead and Lyra's neck, before hitting Voldemort, killing him instantly and vanishing along with the light of the spell. 

**********************************************************************************************

Within minutes, Sirius Black arrived, immediately bursting through the front of the house. 

"James! Lily!" he yelled running through the house. 

He stopped at the sight of James body on the steps and fell to his knees, tears immediately running down his cheeks, "Oh, James. This wasn't supposed to happen. I should have stayed Secret Keeper and then..."

"Peter you bastard! I'll kill you for this!" he shouted into the air then sat, sobbing next to James' body.

"Siri?" Lyra's voice floated down from the top of the stairs. 

Sirius looked up to see Lyra and Harry standing at the top of the stairs, staring at him. Immediately, Sirius felt just a little bit better. He knew that if Lily wasn't down here by now, yet her children were, then she must have been dead, but he knew that both Lily and James would be happy that their children had at least survived. 

"Stay right there," Sirius told the children as he started up the steps.

Reaching the top of the steps, Sirius immediately grabbed both children and turned back around. He continued walking straight out the shattered door and towards his motorbike, only to see an extremely large man standing next to his bike, waiting for him. 

"Hagrid," he greeted the man, "What are you doing here?"

Hagrid looked up at the house, clearly trying to keep tears out of his eyes while doing so, then returned his attention back to Sirius and the children, "Dumbledore's orders. He wants me to take Harry. Who is the girl?"

"This is Lyra," Sirius said and the girl waved unemotionally, "She's their adopted daughter. My goddaughter. No idea who her parents actually were, Lily and James would never tell anyone, but I suspect she's Marlene's daughter because they have the same eyes."

"Well Dumbledore didn't say anything about her. Only Harry," Hagrid replied.

"Are you taking him to Remus?" Sirius asked, handing Harry to him.

Hagrid shrugged, "I don't think so. I think he's supposed to go to Lily's sister."

"But Remus is his godfather!" Sirius said angrily, "James and Lily asked him. They clearly want him to live with Remus. It was basically their dying wish!"

"You have to trust Dumbledore, Sirius. Dumbledore knows what's best. You do trust him, don't you?" Hagrid answered roughly.

Sirius sighed, running a hand over his face, "Of course I do, I'm just upset right now. I don't have a clue what I'm going to do, raising a daughter, and two of my best friends were just murdered. I'm sorry, Hagrid."

"I understand, Sirius. I'm upset too," Hagrid replied.

There was a pause. Hagrid adjusted Harry in his arms, "Well, I best be off. They're expecting me."

"Tell Dumbledore I'll be expecting his owl that explains why Harry isn't being sent to Remus," Sirius replied.

"Will do," and with that he strode off with Harry, leaving Sirius and Lyra alone outside the Potter's home.

"Bye bye," Lyra said looking at Harry.

"Yeah," Sirius muttered back, glancing up at the door to the house, "Bye bye."


	3. Chapter 3

Sirius pulled Lyra out of the sidecar of his motorbike, gently carrying her up the lawn to his apartment building. Lyra remained quiet the entire way, clearly growing tired from all the chaos of the day. Crossing the threshold of his apartment, Sirius quickly realized he had no place to put the almost asleep toddler, not to mention appropriate food, clothing, toys, or anything. And his apartment was only one bedroom. Sighing, he brought Lyra to his bedroom and laid her down to sleep in his bed, gently covering her with a blanket. Sirius knew he would have to move into a bigger home and soon.

Not knowing what to do with himself, Sirius got out his owl, Owlfonso, from his cage, and quickly wrote a note to Remus, explaining what he had seen at the Potter house and Hagrid taking Harry to Lily's sister's house. Then, he asked Remus for advice on how to take care of Lyra, because he honestly had no idea.

After sending Owlfonso to Remus, Sirius began pacing, trying his best to block out the image of his best friend's dead body laying on the floor of his own house. But Sirius quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to block it out when he had nothing to do except wait for Lyra to wake up, so he decided to ask the one of his neighbours, a grandmotherly type down on the first floor of the building that he had gotten to know, to watch Lyra while he went back to the Potter's household to get some of her things. Sirius locked the door to his apartment behind him, hoping that Lyra would be okay for the few minutes that he was gone, and made his way to his neighbour's door. He knocked on the bright red door, hoping that he wasn't waking her up since it was nearly ten o'clock at night.

A grey haired old lady with a kind, but tired smile answered the door, "Oh! Hello, Sirius! What a surprise. What brings you by so late at night?"

Sirius smiled at her, "I had a bit of an emergency earlier. My friends... well, something terrible happened to them," his smile faltered as the image of James appeared in his head again, "They died and their daughter is my goddaughter, so she's coming to live with me now."

The old lady gasped and sympathy immediately became apparent on her face, she reached out, grabbing Sirius' hand in attempt to comfort him, "I'm so sorry, dear. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"That's why I'm here actually," he replied, "I was hoping you could watch her while I went back to get her things. I don't have anything she needs at my place and I can't just stay cooped up right now."

The lady smiled understandingly and patted his hand, "Of course I'll watch her. You take all the time you need. Just know that you might find me asleep on your couch when you come back."

"Thank you so much, Mary," he replied, handing her the key to his apartment, "It's apartment 4A and her name is Lyra. Tell her I sent you and I'll be back as soon as I can if she wakes up."

"It's no problem, just do what you have to," she replied, "I'll go up in just a moment, but you go ahead and leave."

Sirius nodded, "Thanks again, Mary."

Mary just waved him off, shooing him away. Sirius continued walking until he was out of her sight, then looked around quickly for anyone else before disapparated with a crack. 

Landing outside the front door of the Potter house, Sirius quickly found a crowd of wizards and wizards swarming the property. Several Ministry officials were attempting to keep the crowd at bay. 

"You!" shouted one official, "You can't be up there!"

Sirius walked over to the official, "I'm Sirius Black. James and Lily were two of my best friends. I'm just here to get my goddaughter's, their adopted daughter's, things."

"You're Sirius Black?" the official asked, suddenly sounding a lot more serious. 

Sirius groaned, "Yes. Now are you going to let me get my goddaughter's things or not?"

"If you could just wait one moment," the official said, slowly backing away, "I have to get my supervisor's permission."

"Fine," Sirius said impatiently. 

The official ran off, quickly going over to a rugged man whom Sirius recognized at Alastor Moody. Moody quickly looked over at Sirius and started towards him, "Hello Sirius."

"Alastor, thank Merlin you're here. I just wanted to get some of James and Lily's adopted daughter's things. She's my goddaughter so she's living with me now and I don't have anything for her," Sirius explained.

Moody seemed to not hear a word Sirius spoke. His face remained blank until Sirius had finished speaking, "Is it true you were the Potter's secret keeper?"

Sirius blinked, "Are you accusing me of doing this? Of betraying my friends?"

Remaining impassive, Moody continued to stare at him, waiting for an answer.

Sirius groaned loudly, running his hands through his long, black hair in frustration, "Yes, I was their secret keeper," he admitted and Moody immediately drew his wand, "but we switched! It was my idea to switch and make Peter Pettigrew their secret keeper. We thought Voldemort would go after me. I thought that no one would ever suspect Peter to be the secret keeper so even if Voldemort himself were to torture me, I wouldn't be able to tell him. I convinced James that this was a smart idea, but all I did was get him killed. Peter betrayed us and may as well of killed James and Lily himself!"

Moody paused, "Would you take Veritaserum and prove it?"

Sirius nodded, still too mad to speak.

Digging around in his cloak, Moody pulled out a small vial of a mysterious liquid, "You'll have to come to the Ministry later and repeat this while on trail later."

"Whatever it takes to put the bastard that I used to call a friend away," he replied with a grimace and taking the vial.

Sirius downed the liquid quickly. After a small pause, Moody asked him, "Who are you?"

"Sirius Black."

"Were you the Potter's secret keeper?"

"Yes, but Peter Pettigrew was the last secret keeper."

Moody nodded, "Were you associated with Voldemort or Death Eater in any way?"

"Only when I was fighting them."

"Well, thank Merlin for that," Moody replied, "I really didn't want to have to send you to Azkaban."

"Just make sure to send Peter there," Sirius replied, "Can I get Lyra's things now?"

"Of course you can. Make sure you tell one of the officials cataloging everything inside what you took and where you took it from though," Moody replied, "Oh, and you'll be hearing from the Ministry soon I suspect to attend a trail."

"Thank you, Alastor," Sirius replied before entering the house to collect Lyra's things. 

Sirius quickly gathered everything that he thought he would need for Lyra and shrunk it down to fit inside his pockets. He told the officials everything they needed to know and then walked out of the house. 

The crowd outside rushed him as soon as he walked past the Ministry's barriers.

"Is it true? Are they really dead?" a brunette witch asked.

"Are the bodies still inside?" another man asked.

"Where's their son, Harry?"

Brushing past them without a word, Sirius continued down the streets of Godric's Hollow, looking for a quiet spot to disapparate. 

"Sirius!" a familiar voice yelled, "Sirius!"

Sirius turned to see an angry Remus Lupin sending a spell towards him.

Ducking the spell, Sirius yelled back at him, "Are you mad? I didn't betray them!"

Remus looked to be on the verge of tears, yet his face was red with anger, "You were their secret keeper! You!"

"We switched!" Sirius yelled back, "I convinced James that it would be safer to make Peter the secret keeper. I figured Voldemort would come for me, but if Peter was secret keeper then I wouldn't be able to tell him even if he tortured me."

Remus stared at him, clearly hoping that he was telling the truth, but not yet quite ready to believe him, "Why didn't they tell me then?"

There was a pause while Sirius remained quiet, "We knew we had a spy in the Order. I thought it was you and I convinced James not to tell you."

"You thought I was the spy?" some of the anger on Remus' face began to melt away, "Why?"

"You didn't come around as much as you used to and you seemed to withdraw from us. Clearly, we were mistaken and it was Peter, so I'm sorry," Sirius said. 

Remus slowly started to believe him, "You swear it?"

"Yes, and you can ask Moody if you like. He just made me drink Veritaserum. Actually, it might even still be in my system," Sirius replied, hoping Remus believed him.

Lowering his wand, Remus slowly walked towards him, "I believe you."

Sirius nodded, "Did you get my letter?"

Remus shook his head.

"Come back with me to my place. Lyra is there with one of my neighbours," Sirius replied, "I'll tell you what I know there."

"Alright. I'll meet you there," Remus responded.

With the sound of two pops, they both disapparated back to Sirius' apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

There was a loud crack as both Sirius and Remus appeared in the hallway outside Sirius' apartment. 

"What the-" a dark haired man at the end of the hallway jumped in surprise.

"Oblivate," Sirius whispered calmly before knocking on the door to his own apartment. 

Remus grimaced, "Maybe we should have been a bit more careful."

"Nonsense!" Sirius replied, "This is what magic is for."

Mary answered the door then, causing Remus to hold back any other comments he may have wanted to say, "You're back! Perfect timing, I really was just about ready to fall asleep on your couch!"

Sirius smiled at her, "Did Lyra cause any trouble?"

Gathering up her knitting supplies from off Sirius' couch, Mary replied, "Not a lick. She slept the entire time I was here."

"Well thank you for watching her, Mary. I don't know what I would have done without you," said Sirius.

Waving him off, Mary smiled, "It was nothing. I'm happy I could help. Make sure you try to get some sleep as well, Sirius dear."

Sirius leaned against the door frame to his apartment, watching as Mary walked down the hall, "Of course. Goodnight, Mary."

With a smile and a wave, Mary turned the corner and Sirius shut the door, leaving himself and Remus alone with a sleeping Lyra and a heavy feeling in the air.

"So, what now?" Sirius asked Remus, "What do we do now?"

Remus sat on the couch beside Sirius, "I don't know. I'm still in shock. If it wasn't for the fact that I saw the Ministry at their house and I know Lyra's sleeping in your room, I wouldn't be able to believe that th-they're dead."

"I saw James' body. I saw what he did. I don't even know who to blame more, Peter or Voldemort," Sirius admitted quietly, "James was our brother. Maybe not by blood, but in all the ways that matter. I can't believe that Peter could betray James, betray all of us, like this."

There was a long pause before Sirius spoke again, "If I ever see that rat again, I will kill him."

Remus looked at Sirius, trying to gauge just how serious he was. He was startled to see not just anger, but resolve in Sirius' eyes, "I'd like to say I wouldn't, that I would simply alert the Ministry and have him carted away to Azakban, but I'm not sure what I would do."

More silence passed as both men sat, thinking about the tragic events that had occurred, and what the future might hold. It was Sirius again who decided to break the silence. 

"What do I do with Lyra? I barely know anything about her. I know her birthday and that's about it. Lily and James never told me who her parent's were or why they decided to give her up or how they even got Lyra in the first place. Not to mention that I have no idea how to parent, especially to a little girl. What do I do?" he wondered aloud. 

"I don't know, Sirius. But Lily and James would have told you if they thought you needed to know, and they wouldn't have made you Lyra's godfather if they didn't think you could take care of her," Remus replied thoughtfully, "And I'll help you. Lily and James wanted me to take care of Harry, but it's probably for the best that he went to live with Lily's sister. Having a werewolf for a guardian probably isn't the best idea. However, that doesn't mean I can't help you with Lyra."

"That," Sirius started, "Would be wonderful, mate. Thank you."

Remus stood to leave, "I'm going to go now. I need at least a few hours of sleep tonight if I can get it. Owl me if you need anything."

Sirius nodded goodbye to his friend, then seemed to think for a moment before pulling him into an embrace, "At least we still have each other."

Remus awkwardly hugged Sirius back, secretly grateful for the brief moment of comfort. As soon as Sirius released him, Remus disapparated with a crack. 

Taking Lyra's things out of his pocket, Sirius began to enlarge them and arrange them around the room. It was hard fitting everything in the room, and Sirius knew he would need to move to a bigger place and soon. Not being able to think of anything else to do with Lyra still sleep, Sirius collapsed onto his couch and promptly fell asleep. 

**********************************************************************************************

In the months following James and Lily's deaths, Sirius struggled to raise Lyra. He knew how to do the basic stuff by watching Lily and James when he was over to visit, but potty training was his worst nightmare. He didn't have a clue what to do half the time. Luckily, he had Remus. 

Remus helped Sirius find a nice house near the Weasley's Burrow in Ottery St. Catchpole. Which often resulted in both Sirius and Remus showing up to ask Molly Weasley desperate questions at random hours and Lyra to make friends with the Weasley children. With the help of both Molly and Remus, Sirius managed to raise Lyra to be an intelligent, sassy, dramatic, and compassionate child. All the Weasleys loved Lyra as a sister, especially Ginny who was happy to not be the only girl around. 

Lyra started showing displays of magic almost immediately. When she was two, Lyra saw Sirius trip, causing her to laugh. Sirius played along, pretending to trip again and again for her amusement, until finally he grew tired and went to sit down. On the way over to the couch, his feet were mysteriously swept out from beneath him. Sirius immediately knew it had to of been Lyra, as he was standing completely still at the moment and this was the hardest she had laughed at him. 

At four, Lyra jumped off the roof of the Weasley's house. Ron was convinced that they could fly and wanted to try it out so they climbed out of the window of his bedroom. Lyra tried jumping first, only to realize she could indeed not fly. The adults heard her screams and rushed outside to find Lyra sitting on the ground, completely unharmed, and Ron standing on the edge of the roof next to his bedroom, ready to jump. Molly immediately grounded both of them, yelling for a solid hour to not just Lyra and Ron, but Ginny, Fred, and George as well in case they should get any ideas about flying as well. 

On Lyra's 5th birthday, she wanted to blow out the candles again on her birthday cake so Sirius could take a picture of her. The adults all watched in surprise as the candles lit themselves as Lyra stared at them with her face scrunched up in concentration.

At 7, she made a cookie from the cookie jar at the Burrow appear into her hands. At 9 she turned her dress to a different colour so it would match her shoes. No one was concerned that she wouldn't get her Hogwarts letter at 11, but it did make them all the more curious as to who her parents' were. 

The moment Lyra got her letter, she made Sirius promise to take her shopping for her supplies the next day. Sirius agreed, promising that he would get Remus to come along as well even though the full moon was that very night. He knew Remus wouldn't want to miss out on Lyra's first shopping trip for school and her getting her wand. 

The morning they were supposed to go shopping, Lyra was panicking. She had woken up late and now they were running late to meet Remus. 

"Lyra! Come on! If you take any longer, I'm going to die of old age down here!" Sirius called up the stairs to her.

Lyra hopped around as she attempted to pull her shoes on, "You're only 32!"

"I'll be 75 by the time you get down here!"

Giggling to herself, Lyra finished brushing her long, black hair and took a moment to look in the mirror to make sure she wasn't missing anything important. Like pants. 

A short, skinny, fully clothed, violet eyed girl stared back at her. Lyra smiled at her reflection and then headed towards the stairs. 

"Finally," Sirius grumbled as soon as she reached the bottom, "I was really starting to think I was going to have to wait on you forever."

"We're only running five minutes late," Lyra informed him. 

Sirius fell onto the couch, "Felt like years."

Lyra glanced at him, "If you don't get up, I'm leaving you here."

"You wouldn't," Sirius said, glancing up at her, "Would you?"

Nodding seriously, Lyra replied, "Of course. Uncle Remus is going to be waiting in the exact same place as he waits for us every  time we meet him in Diagon Alley. I think I can find him myself."

Lyra threw the floo powder into the fireplace, causing Sirius to jump up from the couch, "Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming."

Stepping into the bright green flames, Lyra shouted, "Diagon Alley!"

Another world of flames and fireplaces slipped past before Lyra arrived at Diagon Alley, luckily she was fairly used to traveling by floo so her disorientation was brief. She still highly preferred traveling by apparation, it was much quicker, but Sirius insisted she should use the floo system when it was available, though she wasn't too sure why. 

A hand tapped Lyra's shoulder, causing her to jump and whirl around and almost fall due to her disorientation. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Remus said, smiling at her tiredly. 

Lyra smiled back, "It's okay. I just didn't expect it. I'm still a bit off from flooing."

Remembering that last night was the full moon, Lyra suddenly gave him a hug, "I hope last night wasn't too bad for you."

"I'm okay, Lyra," Remus replied, "I've been doing much better since the invention of the wolfsbane potion."

"Still, Uncle Sirius told me about how hard it is for you. I hope they invent a cure one day," Lyra said, then seemed to realize that her comment could be taken a different way, "Not that I don't like you as a werewolf! I just mean that it causes you so much pain and trouble and I want you to be happier!"

Remus chuckled, "I know, Lyra."

"Oh. Okay. Good," she muttered in an embarrassed way. 

Sirius decided to appear then, "Hello, Remus! Are we ready to go shopping?"

"Why do I have a feeling that you're just as excited to go shopping as Lyra is?" Remus muttered under his breath.

Sirius ignored him, "Great, let's go."

Leading them into the shops, Sirius tried to shop for Lyra, but Lyra was not having it. Sirius attempted to bring Lyra books and other items off her supply list, but Lyra ordered him to put them back, insisting that she had to find the supplies on her own. Remus simply attempted to distract Sirius by talking to him about his work at the Aurors' Office. 

Lyra lead them around the shops, slowly gathering her supplies. Finally, she only had to get two things: her wand and her pet. The moment she walked into the shops, Lyra headed straight towards the cats. She carefully headed down the aisles of the shop, taking a moment to study each cat. 

"She's knows that you're a dog, right?" Remus whispered to Sirius. 

Sirius glared at Remus.

"I found my cat,"Lyra said coming up to them with a Himalayan kitten. 

Sirius internally groaned, that cat had to have more hair than the rest of the cats in the shop combined, he could only imagine how much cat fur he was going to find everywhere, "You sure?"

"Yep. Her name is Athena," Lyra said.

The kitten meowed at them, "Alright, let's go pay for her."

"Yay!" Lyra said happily as she walked to the counter.

"I thought for sure she'd want an owl," Sirius told Remus. 

Remus shrugged. 

After Sirius grudging paid for Athena, the trio made their way to Ollivander's. The store, as per usual, was empty.

"Mr. Ollivander?" Lyra called out after looking around for a moment.

There was a thud from somewhere in the back of the shop and a moment later an older man appeared who they all recognized as Ollivander.

"Hello! Here for your first wand?" he asked Lyra as he approached the group.

Lyra nodded vigorously and Ollivander went for his measuring tape.

" I already know my wand," Lyra said before Ollivander could start measuring her.

All three of the adults looked at her in surprise. 

"What kind of wand is that?" Ollivander finally asked.

Lyra smiled, "Hawthorn wood with a phoenix feather core, 11 1/2 inches and hard flexibility."

Ollivander looked even more surprised while Sirius and Remus looked mildly concerned.

"How do you know that, Lyra?" Sirius asked her with a gentle tone.

Looking up at him, Lyra replied, "It's just a feeling. I can feel the magic from the wands in the room and I can tell that's the type of wand I need."

"You can feel the magic?" Ollivander asked excitedly.

"Yes," Lyra answered with a frown, "Can't everyone?"

Lyra looked at Sirius, waiting for him to respond, "No, we can't feel the magic. Can you always feel magic?"

A single nod was Lyra's response. 

"We'll ask Dumbledore about it when you start Hogwarts, okay? But I don't think it's anything you need to worry about Lyra," Sirius reassured her as he could tell she was growing worried. 

Ollivander started muttering to him as he suddenly turned and walked between two shelves full of wands in boxes. He returned a moment later with a single box. 

"This is the wand you said was your's," He said handing Lyra the box.  

Lyra looked at the box in her arms, it was a simple black box with a brief description on the lid so Ollivander knew what was inside. After a moment's hesitation, she lifted the lid and set it down on the cashier's counter next to her. Then she gently lifted the polished wand out of the box. Immediately, she could feel herself start buzzing with magic that was waiting to be releashed. Knowing that Sirius, Remus, and Ollivander were waiting to see how the wand would respond to her, she pointed it and Ollivander's measuring tape on the counter and directed the magic to make the measuring tape raise into the air for a moment before gently setting it back onto the counter. 

"Well, that certainly is your wand. In fact, I don't know if I've ever seen that much control with a wand from a child before. Normally, I don't like to give hawthorn wands to inexperienced witches and wizards, but this is clearly Lyra's wand. I will make an exception. Just, be careful Lyra," Ollivander said. 

Lyra nodded and then put the wand back into the box and the lid on before clutching it tightly to her chest. She stood next to Remus as Sirius paid for Lyra's wand and whispered to Ollivander.

"Can we get ice cream before we leave?" Lyra asked Remus, "You can have chocolate."

Remus smiled at Lyra, "Sure, I'll talk Sirius into it."

"Yay!" Lyra replied excitedly.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at Remus, "Why is she so happy? What did you promise her, Remus?"

"Ice cream," Remus replied with a grin. 

Sirius shot Lyra a look, "You know we're going to the Weasley's for dinner in an hour. You're going to ruin your appitite."

Grinning sneakily, Lyra replied, "But Uncle Remus said we could get ice cream."

"You sneaky child," Sirius playfully scolded her. 

Both Remus and Lyra chuckled at Sirius, happy to know they were going to get ice cream.


	5. Chapter 5

The morning of Lyra's first day at Hogwarts went by in a blur of activity. Lyra had agreed to meet  Ron, Fred, and George at King's Cross Station on Platform 9 3/4. Lyra was so excited she basically bounced the entire walk through the station with Sirius and Remus. Luckily, she had her luggage slowing her down or else both Remus and Sirius were sure that she would have already run off and attempted to find the Weasleys. And if she could apparate, she would have already been at Hogwarts. 

Arriving outside of the barrier, Lyra spotted the Weasleys and a small, black-haired boy. Lyra looked at the boy curiously, wondering who he was, why he was with the Weasleys, and why his parents weren't with him. 

As she approached with Sirius and Remus following quickly behind her, she heard Mrs. Weasley giving him directions on how to get on the platform. 

"Oh, Lyra! Hello darling. Sirius and Remus kept up with you I see. I was just helping this nice boy get onto the platform. Lyra, why don't you go help him?" Mrs. Weasley asked happily.

"Of course, Mrs. Weasley," Lyra replied before heading towards the boy, who was nervously staring at the bricks of the barrier. 

"It works, I promise. You aren't going to smash into it," she said quietly to him as she approached him.

He looked at her, equally as nervously, "Have you done this before?"

Lyra nodded, "This is my first year going to Hogwarts, but I've seen the others off almost every year since I was about three years old."

"So you'll be in my year as well then?" he asked.

"Yep," Lyra replied, "Now, grab your cart, we need to get onto the platform."

"On the count of three," Lyra continued as the readied themselves to run at the barrier, "One...Two... Three!"

The both broke into a run, heading straight for the barrier. The moment they should of crashed straight into a solid wall, the barrier enveloped them and they next thing either of them knew, they were standing on a totally different platform. The scarlet train in front of them immediately captured their attention and the boy beside Lyra had a look of awe on his face.

"Come on, we need to get out of the way or else they'll probably ram us with their carts. The twins can be vicious," Lyra prompted him to the side of the platform, out of the way of the barrier, but close enough that the Weasleys, Sirius, and Remus would be able to find them, "I'm Lyra by the way. Lyra Potter."

The boy's bright green eyes immediately snapped to her, "Did you say Potter?"

Lyra sighed, "Yes, but look, I'm really not in the mood to talk about that night and I'm just a normal person, okay?"

 The boy continued to stare at her, "I'm Harry Potter."

A gasp escaped Lyra's mouth and her eyes went wide, "Bloody hell..."

At that moment, Sirius and Remus appeared from the barrier and Lyra immediately started flagging them down, "Uncle Sirius! Uncle Remus!"

Harry looked at her wildly, looking both wildly excited and about to pass out from nerves.

"What is it Lyra? You look like you just saw a ghost," Sirius asked as he approached her.

Remus glanced between her and Harry, a look of growing concern appearing in his eyes, "Sirius..."

"What?" Sirius asked, whipping his head towards Remus, then following his gaze, at Harry, "...You look just like James."

"James Potter?" Harry asked hopefully, "I'm his son. Harry Potter."

Sirius took a step back, clearly startled while Remus took a deep breath. Lyra squealed and immediately hugged Harry, "I'm so happy we found you! I've wanted to meet you for years! We have so much to tell you. This is Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Remus is your Godfather and you and I, we're siblings! Well, kind of. I'm not really your sister. Your parents adopted me when I was a couple months old and no one knows who my parents really are, but your parents raised us as brother and sister and now we found you again!"

Harry stared at Lyra with wide eyes, "What?"

Remus decided to speak up as Sirius still seemed to be in shock, "Lyra, give him a minute. I'm sure he's terribly shocked to find us and Lily's sister and her husband never knew about you so I'm sure he had no idea that you even existed. Give him a moment."

"You mean..." Harry hesitated, "I have family?"

"Of course you have family!" Sirius replied, "Surely your Aunt and Uncle told you about us. Who did you think was sending you all those letters and presents?"

"You sent me letters and presents?" Harry asked in confusion, "But, Aunt Petunia told me that my parents didn't have any friends. And I never got any letters or presents."

Immediately, Lyra, Sirius, and Remus looked angry, "What?"

"Why did they tell you?" "I'll murder Dumbledore for this!" "How could they?"

Harry stared at the three with concern, he was clearly overwhelmed and had no answers for them. Luckily for him, Mrs. Weasley approached then, "Come on! You both need to get on the train! It's about to leave, hurry up!"

Remus sighed, "We'll explain everything later, but Molly is right, you two need to get on the train. Lyra, tell Harry everything you can."

Lyra nodded and then grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him onto the train. Together, they searched for an empty compartment in silence until eventually they stumbled upon Ron Weasley. 

"Oh thank the lord," Lyra said, immediately sitting down in the compartment, "Come on, Harry. Sit down. It's just Ron. He's my friend."

Harry tentatively sat next to Lyra and looked at Ron, "Hello."

"Hi, I'm Ron. Ronald Weasley. And you are?" Ron asked with interest.

"Harry Potter," Harry replied with a nervous glance at Lyra.

Ron then promptly began to choke on air in surprise. 

"For Heaven's sake, Ron. You know me already, calm down. He's just a person," Lyra rolled her eyes at Ron's dramatics.

There was a moment of silence before Harry decided to break it, "So," he said looking at Lyra, "You're my sister?"

"I'm not your biological sister. Your parents adopted me when I was a baby. Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus think that I was probably Mum's friend Marlene McKinnon's daughter because of my eyes, but we're not sure and no idea about my father," she explained quickly, "Do you remember anything before they died?"

Harry shook his head, "Do you?"

Lyra glanced around the compartment, avoiding his eyes, "I was just a couple months older than you, about a year and half old so I only really remember some of that night. Uncle Remus says that's probably because it was so traumatic."

"Do you remember anything about them? Our mum and dad?" Harry asked hopefully.

Ron looked at Lyra with interest as well. Lyra had always avoided talking about that night. 

"I remember the feeling of safety and love. I remember both of their last words. I remember Voldemort. But, the rest is a blur," she replied with a blank expression, "I'll tell you if you really want to know what I remember, but be sure that you want to know. It's not one of my favourite memories. The memories give me nightmares."

Harry frowned, "I have to know. I don't remember anything about them. Aunt Petunia told me they died in a car crash. I didn't know anything about magic or Hogwarts until Hagrid came to see why we hadn't replied to the owl."

"You mean you didn't know you were a wizard?" Ron gasped, "But you're Harry Potter. You defeated You-Know-Who."

"So people kept telling me. I don't remember. Do you know what happened Lyra?" Harry asked.

Lyra stared at the ground, "Of course."

"I can tell you what I know. Some of it is my memory of what happened, other parts is what Uncle Sirius told me what must have happened. You're sure you want to hear?" Lyra asked still staring at the floor.

"Yes," Harry answered simply before leaning towards Lyra, desperate not to miss a word.

Lyra sighed and looked up at Harry, completely forgetting that Ron was even in the compartment though he was leaning towards her to listen as well.

"Mum and Dad were sitting with us in the living room when Voldemort blasted our front gate open, alerting us to his presence. Dad told Mum to take us and run, but Mum didn't have her wand so she couldn't apparate us out of the house. So, she took us upstairs to your room and barricaded the door though she knew it wouldn't do anything. Then, she placed your hand in mine and told us to hide. Then she told us that she loved us and that Dad loved us too before hiding us in the closet. By this time Voldemort had already killed Dad. He died at the bottom of the staircase, trying to prevent Voldemort from going upstairs. Of course, Voldemort killed him without a second thought and then blasted the door to your bedroom open. Mum begged for Voldemort to take her instead of you, but Voldemort just told her to step aside or he would kill her. She refused and tried to block him from reaching us so he killed her too. Then he opened the closet door and told me to step aside. I yelled no and told him to go away. So he attempted to kill both of us. But when he shot the curse at us, it rebounded off of us. It hit your forehead first, then my neck," Lyra paused to gently tug the collar of her black shirt down, revealing the lightning bolt scar right above her left collarbone, "and then it hit Voldemort and he disappeared. No one really knows what happened to him. It wasn't very long after that when Uncle Sirius arrived and took us from the house. Then Hagrid came and took you to the Dursley's. Uncle Sirius said he tried to take you to Uncle Remus, but Dumbledore insisted that you should be sent to the Dursley's. Sirius and Remus both tried to visit you on several occasions, but Dumbledore insisted that you should be left alone until you started Hogwarts. Of course, we didn't listen and sent you presents and letters anyways, but apparently you never got them anyways so I guess it doesn't matter. But, that's all I really know."

Lyra could tell from Harry's expression that he hadn't been expecting that, "Voldemort only got to us that night because someone who Dad, Uncle Sirius, and Uncle Remus trusted betrayed us. A man named Peter Pettigrew. Uncle Sirius looked for him of course since he's an Auror, but Pettigrew was never seen again after that night."

"What's an Auror?" Harry asked in confusion.

Lyra shook her head, "Sorry, I forgot you don't know much about our world yet. An Auror is a powerful witch or wizard who works for the Ministry of Magic and catches dark witches and wizards."

"Oh," Harry said clearly still reeling from the information Lyra had told him.

There was silence for the next couple minutes as Lyra gazed out the window of the train in thought, Ron was looking at Lyra in concern, and Harry was still trying to process. Eventually though, the silence was broken by a bushy haired girl entering the compartment.

"Hello," she said quickly, "Has anyone seen a toad?"

"A toad?" Ron asked in confusion.

Lyra looked at her curiously, "Who are you?"

The girl smiled, "I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger. And you are?"

"I'm Lyra Potter, this is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley," Lyra introduced.

"Nice to meet you all," she said clearly eyeing Harry's scar on his forehead, "So, have you seen a toad anywhere?"

They all shook their heads.

Hermione sighed, "Well, if you do, he belongs to a boy named Neville Longbottom."

"Okay. We'll let someone know if we find him," Lyra replied.

Hermione turned and left the compartment.

"Did she seem kind of a bit of a know-it-all to anyone else?" Ron asked.

"Ronald! How dare you?" Lyra scolded him, "Your mother would be ashamed. Hermione didn't do anything to you!"

Ron blushed, "I didn't say that was a bad thing, I was just asking."

Lyra narrowed her eyes at him. Harry looked back and forth between the two, clearly confused.

"So," he interrupted quickly, "Tell me more about Sirius and Remus."

Lyra immediately smiled at him, "Of course."

The rest of the train ride consisted of Lyra telling Harry everything she knew about Remus, Sirius, and what she knew about James and Lily Potter. Ron commented every once in a while to tell Harry a story or mention something his parents had told him about what had happened with Voldemort. As the end of the train ride neared, Harry felt much more comfortable around the two of them and was starting to get over his shock of having a family and growing more and more worried about starting Hogwarts.

"What happens when we get to school?" Harry asked as they neared Hogwarts.

"We get sorted into our houses and then start classes tomorrow," Lyra answered, "The four houses are-"

The compartment door slide open, cutting Lyra off and revealing a blonde boy and two heavy looking boys behind him. The blonde, clearly the ringleader, stepped into their compartment, "Is it true? Are you really Harry and Lyra Potter?"

Lyra looked at Harry and then at the boy, "Yes. And who are you exactly?"

"I'm Draco Malfoy," he said like they were supposed to be impressed with this statement.

Lyra and Ron rolled their eyes while Harry looked at Draco with dislike.

"My dad told me all about your family. I wouldn't be too proud of your last name if I was you," Ron scoffed at him.

Mentally slamming her head against the wall, Lyra quickly cut in before Draco could comment, "Ronald, that was rude. It's nice to meet you, Draco."

Ignoring her, Draco narrowed his eyes at Ron, "Who are you? Wait, red hair, hand me down clothes, freckles... you must be a Weasley."

Lyra internally groaned while both Ron and Harry narrowed their eyes at Draco.

"So what if he is?" Harry asked.

"You might want to be more careful who you associate with, Potter. I could help you with that if you want," Draco offered.

"I think I can figure out who to associate with on my own, Malfoy," Harry replied coldly.

"Suit yourself," came Draco's reply. 

He turned his gaze to Lyra and raised an eyebrow at her, "And what about you?"

"I don't believe we should be prejudice against people because of how much money they have or what their blood status is, and if you choose to be prejudice, then I think it's really you who may need to be more careful with who you associate yourself with, Draco," Lyra replied coolly.

Draco stared at her for a moment, seemingly stunned to be spoken to like that, and then turned and left the compartment without a word.

"Anyways," Lyra continued as soon as the compartment door closed, pretending that nothing had happened, "There are four houses at Hogwarts. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Gryffindor is for the brave, Slytherin for the cunning, Ravenclaw for the intelligent, and Hufflepuff for the loyal. Mum, Dad, Sirius, Remus, and Ron's whole family were all placed in Gryffindor. Gryffindor has a rivalry with Slytherin and Uncle Sirius really hates Slytherin because his whole family was in Slytherin and he hated his family."

"Plus, everyone knows that all the dark witches and wizards were in Slytherin. Including You-Know-Who himself," Ron told Harry.

Lyra tactfully choose to remain silent, knowing that if she commented, all it would do was cause an argument between her and Ron as it had many times before.

"We should get changed into our robes. We'll be at Hogwarts soon. I'm going to go to the bathroom, you two can get changed in here," Lyra said before reaching for her truck, digging her uniform out, and leaving the compartment.

The two boys stared after her, confused by her sudden mood change, but shrugged it off and started changing into their robes.


	6. Chapter 6

The train slowed as they approached Hogwarts. Before they had even completely stopped, there was a massive surge of students heading towards the doors off the train, leaving the aisles crowded and the first years nervous that they would get left behind.

Lyra was the first to step off the train, but Harry and Ron were close behind her. They stepped onto the platform and looked around anxiously.

"First years! First years over here!" called a loud voice.

With more relief than any of them would care to admit, they hurried towards the voice to find a huge man with a face that was predominately covered by a large, scraggly beard.

"Hagrid?" Harry called as they approached the man.

Lyra and Ron looked at him curiously.

"Hello, Harry! Glad to see you here," the man, Hagrid, replied.

"First years!" Hagrid called out again towards the students still leaving the train.

After a moment, the amount of student slowed to just a few still exiting the train.

"Well, I think this is probably all of you. Come on, follow me," Hagrid told the group of first years he had collected.

The students all awkwardly followed Hagrid, wondering who the man was and where he was taking them, but following along quietly anyways. After a moment or two of walking, they reached a lake where several brown, wooden boats sat waiting for them.

"Three per a boat!" Hagrid called out before hopping into one of the boats himself.

Ron hurried towards a boat and motioned for Harry and Lyra to follow him. Together, they claimed a boat. After the last student, a nervous looking boy that the girl they had met earlier, Hermione, was attempting to coax into the boat finally climbed in, the boats lurched forward.

"Do either of you think there's anything in this lake that might like us as a light snack?" Lyra asked warily as she stated at the smooth surface of the lake that was disturbed only by the ripples the boats were creating.

"Keep your hands and feet inside the boat at all times!" Hagrid called out, "I don't want to have to fight the giant squid for you."

"Guess that answers that question," Lyra muttered.

Ron began keeping a careful watch for any approaching tentacles and Lyra had to hold back a smile at his antics.

Harry was the only one looking up so he was the first to see the castle.

"Look!"

Lyra and Ron looked up and both of their mouths dropped open in awe. They both knew that Hogwarts would be a castle, but they never realized just how magical it would look.

"I'd that Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

Lyra and Ron nodded.

The castle slowly approached. The moment their boats touched the other side of the lake, the students all clambered off and began following Hagrid up towards the school.

As they stepped inside the entrance, a woman stood by the door.

"The first years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarted yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on the nervous looking boy they had seen Hermione with earlier as his cloak was fastened under his left ear, and Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.

"I will return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall, "Please wait quietly."

McGonagall then strode through the doors behind her, leaving them to talk among themselves. Immediately, Ron began chattering away, "How do you think we're sorted? Fred and George told me we had to wrestle a troll, but I'm sure they were just messing with me."

Yet, Ron still seemed a bit nervous, causing Lyra to laugh and Harry to look a bit queasy.

"Relax, you two. It's nothing too bad," Lyra replied with a smile.

She knew all about the sorting from Sirius. He had told her years ago that they would be sorted by a hat and that it would look through your mind behind placing you in your house. But, she had never bothered to mention it to Ron before, mostly because she found his worry funny. 

"You know how we're sorted?" asked a voice from behind the trio. 

They all turned to see Hermione, "Is it a test of some sort? I've been memorizing spells all summer trying to prepare for classes, but I'm sure I'm still so much farther behind that most of you."

Lyra smiled at her, "You won't need any spells. It's actually quite simple. You just have to try on a hat."

"A hat?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione asked her in various tones.

Lyra nodded and the others looked at her doubtfully, not quite sure if she was messing with them or not. 

"What house do you want to get into?" Hermione asked Lyra.

"I don't really know," Lyra replied, "I want to go where I'm supposed to be I guess."

"Well, I think I want to be in Ravenclaw. Though, I suppose Gryffindor wouldn't be bad either," Hermione replied. 

"I'm going to be in Gryffindor. All of my family has been there so far and if I don't get in they'll probably disown me," Ron said jokingly.

Lyra rolled her eyes at him, "What about you, Harry?"

Harry looked at her thoughtfully, "Anything but Slytherin."

Then, McGonagall walked back into the hall, calling to the first years, "Follow me, please."

They all quieted quite quickly, eager and nervous to be sorted and also a little intimidated by Professor McGonagall.

McGonagall pushed open the double door to a large room that was the most beautiful room that Lyra had ever seen. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the sky outside, which Sirius and Remus had told her about several times before, but hearing about it and actually seeing it were two totally different things. Neither of them had thought to mention how awe-inspiring it was. Along the walls and floating at seemingly random places around the room were candles that didn't seem to drip wax, perfectly lighting the hall.

As the first years entered the room, they saw all the other students sitting at four tables staring at them and a table for the teachers was placed on the opposite side of the room, facing the other tables. In front of that table stood a frayed, patched hat sitting on a silver stool. 

Just as many of the students were beginning to wonder exactly what in the world was going on, the hat ripped itself open at the brim and began speaking.

"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folks use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

After the hat finished it's song, several students began politely applauding and Professor McGonagall stood near the stool in front of the first years with a large scroll in her hands, "I am going to read off a list of names one by one and when I call your name please come forward and place the sorting hat upon your head and sit on this stool. After you are sorted, please sit at your new house's table. First up, Abbot, Hannah!"

A small, nervous looking blonde girl walked up to the stool and sat down, placing the hat upon her head. 

After a moment the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

A table off to the far right started cheering loudly and Hannah Abbot headed towards that table and sat down.

One by one, the first years were called out and sorted into their respective houses. Each time a student was sorted, their new house would cheer loudly for them and congratulate them. Some students seemed to be sorted instantly, like Draco Malfoy. The hat hadn't even been completely on his head before it shouted "SLYTHERIN!", while other students, such as Hermione Granger and the boy they had seen her talking to earlier, Neville Longbottom, seemed to take much longer before shouting "GRYFFINDOR!" for both of them.

Finally, it was Harry's turn. 

"Potter, Harry!" McGonagall called causing the hall to go completely silent and then become filled with whispers.

"Did she say Harry Potter?"

"THE Harry Potter?"

"That's him?"

Harry walked nervously up to the sorting hat and Lyra smiled reassuringly at him, knowing that she was about to go through the same thing. 

The hat was placed on Harry's head and the seconds ticked by. After nearly two minutes had passed, Lyra grew a bit worried. Harry was definitely the longest sorting so far. Then, the hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Gryffindor house exploded. Ron's older brothers, Fred and George were chanting, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Lyra sent a glare in their direction, not that they noticed. 

Finally, Gryffindor settled enough for McGonagall to continue, "Potter, Lyra."

"That's her."

"Do you think she'll be in Gryffindor too?"

"They don't look related."

"I heard she's not really a Potter."

Lyra walked quickly up to the stool and sat down, shoving the hat onto her head. The brim slipped down over her eyes, making everything go dark.

"Hello, Lyra," a voice whispered in her head, "I've been looking forward to meeting you."

"You know who I am?" Lyra thought.

"Of course. I've heard all about you, and now I've seen what's going on inside your head. So smart, but not suited for Ravenclaw I think. Your intelligence goes beyond books and learning. You're incredibly loyal, but not Hufflepuff loyal. Now, Gryffindor would work. Yes, you could do so many great things in Gryffindor and your friends and family would be so happy. You would have the home you crave so much."

"So, Gryffindor then?" Lyra asked with brief flash of pleasure coursing through her. 

"Not so fast," the hat replied, "Gryffindor would give you a home and suits you well, but Slytherin would let you grow. Your loyalties would be tested in ways you never imagined, but oh how you would grow. Slytherin would give you everything you've ever wanted and so much more, but most importantly, it would give you the truth about your past that you're so desperate to know."

Lyra gasped, "Do you mean about my parents?"

The hat chuckled, "Of course. In Slytherin you would grow and learn about your parent's past, your past. But, that of course means you'd have to risk everything by entering the house that so many people you hold dear hate."

Lyra's breath quickened, "Sirius would hate me. He's told me all about how his family tortured him for not becoming a Slytherin and all my friends are in Gryffindor. And my brother who I barely know."

"You're one of the rare ones. I'm going to let you choose, because your choice will be the ultimate deciding factor in your sorting. So, Lyra, Slytherin or Gryffindor?" the hat asked.

With her mind racing, Lyra tried to decide. The choice seemed impossible. 

"I see where your thoughts are going. You've already decided, you just don't want to admit it to yourself-"

"NO," Lyra thought, "That isn't my answer!"

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat called out loud.

The world seemed to freeze around her. There was silence as Lyra slowly lifted the sorting hat off her head. None of the tables around her seemed to know what to think. Lyra glanced towards the Gryffindor table and her eyes paused by Fred and George, who both looked shocked beyond belief, before she found Harry.

His eyes met her's and he quickly looked away causing the back of Lyra's throat to tighten.

Lyra forced herself to begin to walk towards the Slytherin table, which erupted into cheers the moment she started moving towards it. She scanned the table for a spot to sit and sat in the one closest to the end, which happened to be right next to a smirking Draco Malfoy.

"Looks like you're not so different from me after all," he whispered in her ear.

Forcing herself to breathe, Lyra ignored him, silently cursing the hat to hell and back. Sirius was going to hate her.

After a few more minutes of the sorting, which Lyra tuned out, Ron's name was called.

"Weasley, Ronald!" McGonagall read out.

Lyra cursed, she had forgotten about Ron. For a dark moment, she hoped Ron would be sorted into Slytherin with her, but then she berated herself. She knew how much Ron wanted to be a Gryffindor.

There was only a brief pause before the hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

When Ron didn't even glance towards her on his way towards the Gryffindor table and then sat with his back to her, Lyra knew. Ron would never forgive her for becoming a Slytherin.

Placing her head on face down on her arms atop the table, Lyra silently began to cry, careful to only let a few tears escape before she sneakily wiped them off and then turned towards Draco.

"Can we start over? I think I'm going to need all the friends I can get here," Lyra forced herself to say as she chocked back tears.

Draco raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think I want to be your friend, Potter?"

"I don't think I have a right to go by that last name anymore," she said in an emotionless tone, "I've never really been a Potter anyways. My godfather, Sirius Black raised me. I think I should take his last name and restart the Black tradition of being in Slytherin."

Looking her up and down, Draco smiled, "Nice to meet you, Lyra Black."


	7. Chapter 7

*Four years later*

"He's back," Draco told her in a hushed tone as he whispered into Lyra's ear, "My father informed me this summer that he's back. Potter isn't lying."

Lyra sat up on her bed, looking down at Draco in shock, "But, how? I thought he was dead."

"Pettigrew found a way to bring him back," Draco replied as he pulled himself up beside her, "Father said he's gathering his strength now, but soon he'll be back in full power. He's going to take over the wizarding world again. There's going to be another war."

Lyra looked down at her knees, "I'm scared, Draco. I know he's going to want me."

"Father already told me that he knows about you," Draco replied softly, "He wants you to become a Death Eater."

Freezing, Lyra looked at Draco with fear clear in her eyes, "I don't want to be a Death Eater. I don't want to have to kill my family."

Draco pulled Lyra into a hug, "I know. I know, but you don't have a choice. You're too big of a threat. He can't have you joining the Order. He'll kill you."

Tears started to spill over onto her face, "They already hate me though! My family hates me! If I become a Death Eater, I'll have to kill them and they'll die hating me!"

"I'm so sorry, Lyra. You have to do it though. I can't bear to loose you," Draco whispered quietly to her. 

Tears threatened to spill over onto Lyra's cheeks for the first time in years. For the past several years things had been strained in her family. Sirius and Remus had started asking Harry to come over on school breaks and Harry had eagerly agreed. However, Lyra was sure Harry hated her and refused to be around him, so she started spending more time at the Malfoy's mansion. It wasn't her first choice, but since she didn't have any other friends or family Lyra saw it as her only option. The first couple of days with Malfoy were strained, neither of them really knowing much about the other, then Draco got in trouble with his father, causing Lyra to ask about his relationship with his father, his home life, and his life in general. The more they talked, the more compassion Lyra felt for him. She knew that Draco was actually a very nice guy, but that he was under a lot of pressure from his father to fit into the role that his family had created for him. It wasn't long after that Draco and Lyra's friendship starting to grow, especially since neither of them felt like they had anyone else that they could actually talk to. 

Slytherin was a very selective and competitive house. You either fit in or you were crushed. Thankfully, once Lyra and Draco grew closer and Draco's family discovered how naturally gifted Lyra was at magic, the Malfoy's practically adopted Lyra, giving her the status she needed to fit in with Slytherin. Unfortunately though, this meant that more and more people began to realize how gifted Lyra was at magic, which meant the Weasleys and Harry went from treating her just with suspicion to glaring at her anytime she so much as looked in their direction. And as Lyra grew farther distant from her family, the more she came to rely on Draco and his family.

And it seemed as though her choices were finally catching up to her. Voldemort had noticed her, and apparently he also wanted to use her. Lyra wasn't an idiot, she knew all working for Voldemort would do was cause trouble for her, not to mention the fact that she didn't believe in his "values" at all, but it was beginning to look like it was either join him or die, and Lyra most certainly did not want to die.

"Draco," Lyra began as she slowly twisted towards him on the bed, "do you believe as he does? Do you really think that purebloods are better than muggleborns?"

Draco paused, carefully looking at her, as though trying to figure out how honest he should be.

"I don't know," he finally admitted, "I used to think he was right, but I know you don't believe as he does, and you've made me think about it. After all, we don't even know for sure that you are a pureblood, though I know my parents have told everyone that you are. You could be a muggleborn for all anyone really knows about you, Lyra, but you're easily the most powerful witch in Hogwarts."

Lyra nodded thoughtfully, "Not to mention there's Hermione Granger, who everyone knows is a muggleborn, and yet she's the smartest in our class, maybe even the whole school."

Though he grimaced at Hermione's name, Draco reluctantly sighed, "You're right of course. But, I don't see why it matters. The Dark Lord wants you to join him. I don't really think he cares about your values. It's join or die, Lyra. You know that."

A hint of a smile tugged at the edge of Lyra's mouth, "What if it's not though?"

Draco's face immediately grew wary with concern, "What do you mean, Lyra? Is this another one of your ideas that end up getting us in trouble? This isn't something that you can play around with, Lyra, the Dark Lord will kill you if you act against him."

"What if he doesn't know though?" Lyra asks him, the smile growing wider on her face as her idea begins to fully form.

"Lyra-" Draco begins only to be cut off.

"Draco," she says swiftly before he can protest, "you know I don't believe in the Dark Lord, and honestly, I don't think he'll win this next war. Do you?"

Blinking in surprise at Lyra's bluntness, Draco answers just as bluntly, "Yes."

Lyra frowns, but continues, "And if he doesn't? What will happen to us then if we join him and he looses?"

With a sigh, Draco replies, "I imagine it'd be a lifetime in Azkaban for us."

"Exactly. And if we don't join him, somehow manage to evade death, and then he does win the war, what would happen to us then?" Lyra asks.

"He'd kill us. Or he'd have us killed more likely," Draco replies, "Now I'm even more worried, Lyra, thank you. Are you saying we're going to die no matter what most likely?"

"No, that's exactly it. I'm saying I have a plan for us to avoid dying no matter what," she answers with a giant grin on her face.

"You're as crazy as my aunt Bellatrix," Draco mutters with wide eyes, "But, alright. Let's hear your plan."

Lyra tackles Draco with a hug, briefly thanking him for showing his faith in her, then begins to explain quietly after she casts the muffliato charm on the room.

"It's simple really," she begins as her eyes dart around the bedroom, "We join both sides. We tell the Order that we'll spy for them and we'll use my connection to Harry and the others and my natural immunity to legilimency to convince Voldemort that I'm the perfect person to spy for him as well."

"What about me?" Draco asks in confusion.

Lyra frowns, "You join both the Order and the Death Eaters, spy for the Order, but don't spy for Voldemort. I don't think we could sell them on you being a good candidate to spy on the Order, but Voldemort will have plenty of other jobs for you. You'll still be protected by both sides that way though."

"What if Voldemort finds out that I'm in the Order then?" he asks still looking worried.

"First of all, he won't. Second of all, even if somehow Voldemort did find out that you were in the Order, we'd use your association with me to explain it. Everyone knows that we're friends, Draco, probably even Voldemort, so we could say that the Order found out about our relationship and knew that you were connected with Death Eaters, if not already a Death Eater yourself, so I convinced them that they could use you instead of killing you or sending you to Azkaban. Then we could sell you to him as another spy. In fact, he there's ever a hint of suspicion that you're part of the Order, then we'll get in front of it and sell him the story then so it doesn't look like we were hiding things." Lyra explained.

Draco looked up at the ceiling, seemingly in deep thought, and then met Lyra's eyes. He looked at her as though he was searching her, trying to figure something out, "Alright, but you have to do something for me Lyra."

"Anything, Draco," she replied swiftly.

"Then we have to make the Unbreakable Vow to each other that we will always protect one another."


End file.
